On the Plus account, I bought all 4 of the 1.27 cars and took delivery of the 5th a bit early. As I had all the cars for both new Menu Books, I also got my 2 engine Wheels of Despair, which yielded another Supra RZ engine and an Enzo engine.
The European Clubman Cup at Nurburgring is about as tough as the Silvia Sisters for a pittance. After fails with the new Giulia, Ferrari F430, Porsche Carrera GT and RUF CTR3, I had to resort to the 2015 Lamborghini Aventador for a 10-second win over Gallo and his Giulia GTAm (and much more over the field) in 15:09 (on normal, as usual). I didn't even get the clean race bonus, so the 100,000 Cr./hour (150,000 Cr. if one gets the clean race bonus and can get the time down to under 15 minutes) represents one of the worst investments of time in GT7. I doubt the GT by Citroen Road Car, with which I won the other European Clubman Cup races, would do the trick.
The Hyper Car Parade at Monza was much easier, mostly because I used the Ferrari FXX K with which I blitzed the earlier Hyper Car races. Not even Lopez in his RH-shod Aston Martin Vulcan (starting from 2nd) could keep up, as the 8:43 spent there was worth a 29-second win. I even got the clean race bonus for 127,500 Cr., so the return of investment of about 850,000 Cr./hour (with the CRB) isn't too bad.
At Mount Panorama, my lightly-modified Camaro ZL1 (SS tires and Stage 1 Weight Reduction) was no match for Serrano's Corvette C8, though I passed second on lap 2. I didn't see any restrictions on tires, so I dragged out my Gr.4-killing Focus RS for a tight 1.8-second win over Serrano (and a stomping over the field) in 11:22. It wasn't clean, but it was a win. If one can get clean races (good luck with the field-fillers in the 1960s machinery that don't adjust transmissions), it's worth maybe 700,000 Cr./hour.
Speaking of bad investments, the 4-star Wheel of Despair spat out a racing crank shaft for the Toyota S-FR Racing Concept. Wheeeee!
On the GTP account, so much for catching up on the high-priced Hagerty's cars for a while. The new engines and swaps require over 15,000,000 Cr. to get enough examples to cover both normal and 'S'-part upgrades on, if applicable, both normal- and wide-bodied cars to both car and engine.
Instead, I picked up the Bugatti Chiron and Bugatti VGT (only because I needed them for the Bugatti extra menu; fortunately, I bought the Veyron when I had an invitation), the BMW M2 Competition (because I needed it for the BMW extra menu), the Celica Rally Car and the Ferrari VGT (because I got the question right). The engine Wheels of Despair gave me a 2008 GT-R GT500 engine and yet another 2019 Corvette engine. I doubt I'll ever see the Escudo engine.
I took my frustrations out on the new races with some overpowered cars. The Ferrari VGT was perfect for the European Clubman Cup at the Nurburgring...as long as I avoided the rolling obstacles and the chance for rain. I eventually got the race done in 12:48 under clean and dry conditions.
At Monza, it was a titanic stomping as I lapped the two backmarkers with the Ferrari VGT in 8:08. For some reason, the win didn't register on the race select screen, though I did get the credits.
I ran it again with a detuned Tomahawk S (originally tuned for the Sardegna grind, abandoned since the PP swelled to, as of now, 830.27 PP). It serviced the race in 9:11, but again it didn't register. A third, unclean run with the Aston Martin Vulcan and, after a PS5 restart, a fourth, clean run with the FXX K (with increased rigidity) also didn't register. Oh well; the credits won counted.
I took the aforementioned Tomahawk to Mount Panorama for the last of the new races, a clean stomping in 10:54. Like the Monza races, it didn't register on the race select screen.
The 3-star marathon roulette actually didn't disappoint too bad - I won't have to spend 31,000 on the 2022 Mazda Roadster NR-A (ND). Back to the grind tomorrow.
